Potato-planter.



. No. 806,081. PATBNTED NOV. 28, 1005.

'T. L; 0001) & 0. H. GERLING.

POTATO PLANTER.

APPLICATION nun mm, 1905. 0

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

raw

UNTT 'E STATES PATENT EIOE.;-

THOMAS L. e001) AND oHAR Es H. GERLING, OF EDWARDSVILLE. ILLI- N01s. ASSIGNORS 0F ONE-THIRD T0 PETER BERNHARDT AND ONE- sIxTrr T0 HENRY P. HOLTLwBOTH OIFEDWARDSVYILLE, ILLINOIS.

PoTAfro-PLANTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 28, 1905.

- Application filed Mayl, 1905. Serial No. 258,416..

To all whom itmay concern:

Be it known that we, TnoMAs-L. Goon and CHARL s H. GERLING, citizens of the United States, and residents of Edwardsville,1llinois, haveinvented certain new and useful potato-planters; and it consists of the novel' features herein shown and described.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a potato-planter embodying the principles of our invention as seen looking in the direction indicated by the arrow 1 in Fig. 2, parts beingbroken away,as shown in section,

' to illustrate the construction. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the potato-planter as seen looking in the direction indicated by the arrow 2 in Fig. 1. Fig. '3 is alongitudinal vertical section of the potato-dropper, upon an .enlarged scale, andtaken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 4 and looking in the direction indicated by the arrow. Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a perspective, upon an enlarged scale, of one of the potato-pickers.

R ferring to the drawings in detail, there are six potato-pickers oomprisingan attacha ing-plate 6, a bearing-post 7 at the upper.

end of the attaching-plate, bearing-post 8 parallel with post 7, a horizontal plate 9, connecting the upper ends of the posts 7 and 8, the parts 6, 7, .8, and 9 being preferably formed integral, the rigid finger 10, attached to the (plate 9 and extending forwardly, the pivote finger 11, mounted upon the-pivot 12 in the posts 7 and 8, the arm 13 for operat- .ing ears 21 and 22 at the rear ends of said bars 19 and 20 and there being attaching- .bars. The crankarm 25 is pivotally connected at its forward end to the ears 21.and 22 by the pivot 26, and the tongue 27 'is rigidly secured between the attach1ngplates 23 and 24.

The potato-dropper shaft 28 is mounted in bearings through the upper parts of side pieces 15 and 16 and slightly in front of the other centers, there being a sprocket-wheel 29 upon one'end of the shaft. A disk 30 is fixed between two flanges 31, and said flanges mount the disk half-way between the side pieces 15 and 16. The attachin -plates 6 are secured onehalf to one'side of t e disk 30 and the other half to the other side of the disk, said plates being arranged radially relative to the shaft 28. Cams 32 and Y33 are mounted one upon each side of the disk 30,

plates 23 and 24 at the forward ends of said are fixed upon thecenter of the shaft so as to said cams being mates and formed of sheet inetaland said cams being attached for support to the side pieces 15 and 16. The active portions of thecams. are substantially in the same plane as the periphery of the disk 30 I and in the line of travel of the arms 13, so that when the arms 13 contactwith the earns the finger 11 is moved away from the finger 10 to open the picker. j

A sheet-metal bottom 34 extends from the and extends forwardly to the end piece 17, I

said partition being in vertical alineinent with the disk 30 and the up or edge of said partition fitting closely to t e periphery of the disk, thereby forming a potato-feeding box divided longitudinally into two parts, there being dropper-openings. 36 and 37, one

1 upon each side of the forward end of the partition 35 in front of the bottom 34. The cams 32 and 33 operate the pickers, so that when the shaft 28 rotates in the direction 111- dicated'by the arrow 38 in Fig. 3'the pickers are open as they pass under the shaft and will pick up potatoes from thebottom 34, and as the levers '13 pass from the lower ends 39 of the active parts of the cams 32 and 33't'he springs 14 will close the picker and grasp the potato and carry it upwardly over the shaft 28, and as the levers 13 again engage the upper ends of the active parts of the earns the pickers will be open and the potatoes drop downwardly through the openings 36 and 37.

A shaft 38 is mounted in the side pieces 15 and 16 immediately'above the bottom 34 and some distance in front of the end piece 18, there being a crank 39 upon one end of this shaft. An agitator-plate 40 is fixed upon the shaft 38, said plate extending horizontally backwardly, then vertically upward, and then horizontally backward, with its rear upper end resting upon the end piece 18. A pintle 41 extends outwardly from the center of the side piece 15, and the agitator-lever 42 is pivotally mounted upon this pintle, with its rear end resting uponthe crank 39 said crank being normally in a horizontal forward position. A block 43 is fixed upon the forward end of the lever 42 above the shaft 28, and a cam 44, fixed upon the end of the shaft 28, engages the block 43 at each-revolution of the shaft to throw the block upwardly and throw the crank 39" downwardly, thereby throwing the upper rear end of the plate 40 forwardly. The plate 40 extends entirely across the feed-box from the side piece 15 to the side piece 16. A hopper is mounted upon the side pieces 15 and 16 in position to discharge into the feed-box chamber 46, and a spring-plate 47, secured to the rear side of the hopper, engages the agitatorplate 40, the tension of said spring-plate being exerted to oppose the action of the cam 44 and throw the plate 40 backwardly to its normal position, so that as the shaft 28 is rotated the plate 40 is vibrated to throw the potatoes forwardly, so that they may be reached and grasped by the pickers.

The shaft or axle 48 is mounted upon traction-wheels 49, and the frame of the potatoplanter is mounted upon the shaft, said frame comprising the side bars 50 and 51, the crossbars 52, connecting the rear ends of the side bars together, and the attaching-plates 53 and 54 at the forward ends of the side bars, said forward ends being bent inwardly to bring attaching-plates against the attaching-plates 23 and 24. A bolt 55 is inserted through the attaching-plates 53 and 54, through the attaching-plates 23 and 24, and through the tongue 27 to pivotally connect the potatoplanter to the main frame. A brace 56 is connected to the bars 50 and 51 near their rearends, and a brace 57 is connected to the bearing-block 58, mounted upon the shaft 48, and the seat 59 is mounted upon these braces.

A sprocket-wheel 60 is mounted upon the shaft 48, there being a clutch connection between the sprocket-wheel and the shaft controlled by the foot-lever 61 and the sprin 62. A chain 63 connects the sprocket-wheeI 29 and 60, so that the dropper is operated when the clutch mechanism is operated to connect the sprocket 60 to the shaft 48.

The furrow-opener 64 is attached to the tongue by the rod 65, so that the potatoes will be dropped into the furrow made by the furrow-opener. A squared shaft 65 is rotatably mounted in the side pieces 50 and 51 a short distance in front of the shaft 48, and the rear end of the arm 25 is fixed upon this shaft. A lever 66 is fixed upon one end of the shaft 65. A rack 67, fixed upon the side bar 50, is engaged by the pawl 68, carried by the lever 66, to adjust the position of the shaft 65. Arms 69 and 70 are fixed upon the shaft 65 and extend forwardly, there being disk coverers 71 and 72 ournaled at the inward ends of said arms to cover the potatoes after they have been dropped in the furrow. When the arm 25 is in a horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 1, the furrow-opener 64 and the furrow-cdverers 71 and 72 are in operative position in the ground, and when it is desired to move the device from one field to another or the like the lever 66 is operated to throw the forward end of the arm 25 upwardly, thus raising the furrow-opener, and to throw the forward ends of the arms 69 and 70 upwardly, thus raising the furrow-coverer to points above the ground.

The rod 73 is mounted in the hopper 45 in vertical alinement with the disk 30, the object of said rod being to separate the potatoes into two parts as they pass downwardly and prevent clogging.

We claim- 1. In a potato -planter, a hopper having discharge openings in its forward end, a transversely-arranged shaft in said hopper, means whereby said shaft is rotated, a disk located on said shaft within the hopper, pickers mounted upon said disk and adapted to pick up potatoes and drop them through the openings in the hopper, an agitatorplate arranged in the rear end of the hopper, a shaft carrying the agitator-plate, a crank fixed upon the end of the shaft, a cam fixed upon one end of the shaft that carries the disk, and an agitator-lever arranged so that one end bears on the end of the agitator-plate and the opposite end being in the path of travel of the cam; substantially as specified.

2. In a potatoplanter, a frame, tractionwheels supporting said frame, a furrowopener carried by the frame, a hopper carried by the frame above and to the rear of the furrow-opener, a disk arranged for rotation in the hopper, a plurality of pickers alternately arranged on the sides of said disk, cams located adjacent the disk, with which portions of the pickers engage to open said pickers during a portion of their travel, an agitator arranged in the rear end of the hop per, and means whereby said agitator is operated; substantially as specified.

3. In a potato-planter, a frame, tractionwheels supportingsaid firame, a furrowopener carried by the forward end of the 7 frame, a hopper carried by the frame above the rear end of the furrow-opener in the forward end of Which hopper is formed discharge-openings, furrow-coverers arranged behind the furrow-opener, means whereby said furrow-coverers are elevated from the ground, a disk rotatably arranged in the hop per, a series of pickers alternately arranged on the sides of said disk, .cams located adja cent the sides of the disk with which portions of the pickers engage to open said pickers during a portion of their travel, means whereby the disk is rotated, an agitator ar- 15 Witnesses J 0s. ED oNDs, W. H. SHAFFER. 

